


The Clock Strikes Midnight

by mitchmatch24



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father Figures, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Good dad Aaron Hotchner, Mentions of alcohol, Reader and Jack are bestfriends, Reader-Insert, Sneaking Out, Some Humor, Teenage Rebellion, but it isn't that sad at the end, can you see where this is going?, teenagers doing Stupid Shit, which is sad, y/n's parents are neglectful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-19 01:47:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29743110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mitchmatch24/pseuds/mitchmatch24
Summary: Prompt: You and Jack are both in high school and best friends. Your parents are mostly absent, their jobs and image more important than taking care of you. You convince Jack to sneak out, but it doesn’t quite go as planned.
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Reader, Beth Clemmons/Aaron Hotchner
Kudos: 25





	The Clock Strikes Midnight

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Impromptu 3:00 a.m. Meeting](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29624970) by [andiebeaword](https://archiveofourown.org/users/andiebeaword/pseuds/andiebeaword). 



> Idk why I wrote this, but the idea popped into my head and made me laugh so I decided to write this. LMK what you think and please enjoy.

“And y/n, don’t forget your father and I will be out tonight at a business dinner. It’s very important for our professional reputation. We will probably stay at a hotel rather than come home. Your father doesn’t want to drink and drive,” your mother droned on, a fake smile on her face.

You give her a tight smile, hiding your disappointment and hurt. You had learned long ago that you were always going to take a back seat to their professional lives. Ever since you were a child, you had come home to an empty house or to parents who only came home to work in their separate home offices. “It’s alright, mother,” you reassured dryly, slipping into that fake persona you had perfected years ago. Lying was second nature when it came to these two. And they made enough to hide any stupid teenage mistakes you made. Any reckless cry for help was always swept under the rug and promptly ignored, leaving you to toy with your own devices. You got used to it eventually, you supposed.

Your father came into the dining room then, clapping a hand on your shoulder while he tried to pretend like he was a good father. “How are you son?” he asked, smiling although the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. They never did. You never saw him smile for real. The only time he genuinely smiled was when he accomplished something big within his firm. He was a big-time lawyer. Mother was a vice president of some successful company. You were just their dead-beat son who would never live up to their expectations and drive.

You faked your smile again, slipping into conversation with ease. Playing your part in their play, like actors on a stage. “I’m great, father. I aced that physics test the other day,” you commented, a twinge of excitement escaping you and rushing out in your words as you hoped for once he would care.

He just sat down and tucked into eating, some case file in his hands. “Oh? Well, good. We expect a lot of you, you know,” he replied, barely paying attention anymore. You just slumped in your chair, putting your fork down, the fake smile dissipating.

“I’m going to school. See you whenever you bother coming back home,” you said coldly, standing from the table and walking out. Your parents didn’t comment, ignoring you like they always did. You stomped up the stairs, taking your backpack from your room and making sure you had everything off your desk. You snatched your earbuds and phone, shoving the earbuds in your ears and playing music to get you through your walk to school. You were close to getting your license, but not exactly there yet. You got it in a few months, but for now you still walked. It was odd, still walking to school as a sophomore, when others were driving and getting rides from each other.

Your feet just walked automatically, your head in the clouds as you walked to school on autopilot. You could hear the screeching brakes of buses and small shouts from people as you got closer and closer to the local high school. You didn’t bother talking to anyone as you made your way through the sea of people and inside the building. Decker High School. Home to the Decker Devils. And full of fake people and idiots. You just hoped Jack would be in class today. He had missed some last week because he got sick with something, the stupid fucker.

You walked into your first period, physics. You looked around, knowing Jack always got to class first in order to go over notes or what not. You grinned when you saw him sitting at his desk (the one next to yours, of course) and sauntered over with renewed vigor. “Jack attack,” you greeted smoothly, punching him lightly in the shoulder. He mock glared, turning his pencil to erase the scribbled line you had caused from punching him. You just raised your eyebrows, pulling out your seat and collapsing into it emphatically. “Where the hell have you been?” you asked, his toothy grin spreading across his face.

He punched you back, sighing. “Beth is on a business trip in Hong Kong for two weeks and dad is working a shit ton, so when I got sick, I was at Aunt Jessica’s,” Jack explained nonchalantly. You just nodded, unzipping your backpack to get out your notebook to take more notes. You knew that happened to him sometimes. You had never met his dad, though. He was always working. You didn’t know what he did, but you honestly didn’t care if he was anything like your father. Before you could open your mouth to hit him with another witty comment, Mr. Smith walked through the door. You closed it immediately, the both of you sharing a look between each other and then turning back to Smith to listen to whatever boring thing he had to say.

“Alright class, today we will be starting torque! Open to page…” Smith began, closing his door and walking to the white board to start on class. You sat through 15 minutes of a lesson before his phone rang and he got sucked into a phone call with the front office. You pulled out your phone, reading text messages on the screen.

_**Scotty:** Yo y/n, party at mine on Friday night. You in?_

You bit your bottom lip, thinking about it.

_**Me:** who’s gonna be there?_   
_**Scotty:** the norm. Bring someone if you want. Starts at 8 and ends whenever you can get your ass home lmfao_

You grinned.

_**Me:** I’m in bro. See you there, bitch_   
_**Scotty:** see you there, dipshit_

You shoved your phone in your pocket and looked up, seeing that Smith was still on the phone. You turned to Jack, whispering, “bro, Scott is throwing a party Friday night. You down?”

Jack looked at you, an incredulous look in his eyes. “A party, y/n? Are you crazy? My dad would never let me go!” he whispered back harshly.

You shrugged, shooting him a wicked grin. “I have a way you could go,” you said slyly, hoping he would take the bait. Knowing Jack, he would say no. He had a strong moral compass, so stupid teenage things weren’t his specialty.

“How?” Jack asked, leaning in further as his gaze shot to the front of the room and then back to you.

“Sneak out, buddy boy,” you suggested, cocking a brow in his direction. He paused, hesitating. He was interested. “You’re interested, Jack. C’mon. Please? For once? Only this once and then I won’t ask you to ever again. I swear we won’t get caught,” you pleaded, hoping he would give in. You just wanted to drag one of your only best friends to a party. Jack knew about your family and all your problems. He had listened intently when he invited you back to his house to hang out and then you got the news that your mother and father were taking an impromptu trip without you. You had yelled about how unfair and how distant they were, and Jack listened to every word, offering you support although he didn’t truly understand.

“You swear we won’t get caught?” Jack asked, searching for truth. You nodded silently. He sighed, “fine. Just this once. But I’m not doing drugs or anything. I would get killed.”

“Of course. Just be there. That’s all you have to do. I’ll help you sneak out. I mean, your aunt is staying at your house for the next few days because your stepmom went on that trip, right?”

Jack nodded, “yeah.”

Smith snapped his fingers, drawing your attention again. “We can finish planning later,” you said triumphantly, not bothering to hide your excitement.

* * *

Jack plopped down beside you at a table outside, sitting the cardboard lunch tray down and settling to eat his meal. “Alright, so how do you get me out of my house without my aunt noticing and then get me back in?” he asked, taking a plastic fork out of its packaging.

You smiled. “Simple. ‘Go to bed’ at your normal time, wait a few minutes so she doesn’t suspect a thing. Sneak out the quietest and easiest door to get out of or your window. Party. Go back in the same door,” you explain bluntly.

“That simple?”

“That simple.”

“Alright… fine. Just this once. I need to get out of that house anyway. I get bored sometimes,” Jack complained.

You ruffled his hair, laughing when he half-heartedly punched you. “That’s my boy!” you said proudly, still laughing.

He laughed, “shut up, y/n.”

* * *

_**Jack Attack:** hurry up and get over here. My aunt went to sleep early too. She’s asleep and I can get out. Side door._   
_**Me:** right there. Come on_

A few seconds later, Jack was by your side. He was in jeans, a t-shirt, a black denim jacket and sneakers. You were similarly dressed. “Come on. We’ve already missed two hours of this party. It’s a five-minute walk,” you told him, walking in the direction of Scott’s house.

“I’m so glad my dad isn’t coming home yet,” Jack commented. You didn’t bother taking that line of conversation any farther. Your parents were working. Again. And if they were home, they didn’t care if you weren’t. They never noticed, anyways. Not unless they were called by the police or another adult. Sometimes they didn’t answer. It didn’t matter. A lot of the times you just talked your way out of situations.

You both walked, occasionally pushing each other, and cracking a witty joke. Once you got to Scott’s, there a party in full swing. You just walked right in, urging Jack inside before he could back out. There were girls and guys. Probably more if you had to guess. The house was pretty big and you had clue where people were that weren’t directly in front of you. You made your way through everyone until you found Scott, grinning as you strode up to him. He smiled, opening his arms, solo cup in hand, and bear-hugged you. “Y/n!” he greeted.

“Scott!” you greeted back, smiling, “you’ve got a great party going.”

“Thanks man,” Scott said, taking a sip of his drink, “want a drink? Hey, who’d you bring?”

“That’s Jack. He’s probably not gonna do much, man. You said bring someone, so I did. He’s a little stressed. First time, you know?” you explained, waving it off.

Scott nodded, grinning. “Yeah, I get it. He’ll be alright. Just be careful. Don’t get black out drunk for his sake, man,” Scott suggested, gesturing to him.

“I won’t man.”

“Good. Enjoy the party.”

You turned to get Jack, but he wasn’t paying attention. Four girls had attached themselves to him and you smiled. You shrugged, moving towards a cooler to retrieve a beer and unwind.

* * *

Three hours later, you and Jack were ready to split. He had managed to make out with some girl named Harper and had a beer. You had a few drinks, but not enough to get close to drink. You had spaced them out and made sure they weren’t strong. You wanted to stay sober enough to get Jack out of there if he needed it. You were wandering through the streets, laughing at 1 in the morning. Reflecting on the experience.

“I’m really happy you convinced me to do that,” Jack said finally, smiling at you and glancing in your direction.

You smiled, “I’m glad, buddy ole pal. Race you back to your house?”

“You’re on!” he agreed, taking off. You followed behind him, laughing as your feet pounded against the street lit concrete. He beat you, laughing and catching his breath as you caught up, falling into the grass and laying there. “Get up, dummy,” Jack ordered, trying not to laugh again. You stuck a hand up and he pulled you to your feet, the both of you quietly catching your breath.

“Can I crash here? I’ll sneak out in the morning,” you ask, giving him a pleading look.

“Won’t your parents want to know where you are?” Jack asked, concerned.

You shook your head, chuckling humorlessly, “they don’t care, man. Please?”

“Sure. Now shut up.”

You both entered through the side door, quietly creeping inside. Jack stilled, sticking out an arm to stop you. “Fuck,” he swore under his breath.

“What?”

“Dad’s home,” he whispered harshly, panic ringing clear and spreading to you. You kept cool, though.

“And? He’s probably asleep. He’s not going to notice,” you say, moving forward as the both of you kept moving, being careful. Jack peeked around a corner and let out a small sigh of relief.

“I think you’re right. C’mon. If he catches us, we’re dead,” Jack said seriously.

“Why? What’s the big deal?”

“Well for starters, he’s an FBI agent that is trained to notice human behavior. He just got back from a case,” Jack answered quietly. You froze, the blood draining from your face.

“You’re telling me this now!?” you whisper-yelled.

“Well, it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, does it?” Jack fired back harshly as you both crept up the stairs, trying not to alert anyone that people were sneaking around. “Besides, he didn’t tell me he was coming back. He’s really tired and wants to sleep.”

You both managed to get to his room, the room dark. You both let out sighs of relief, chuckling between yourselves as you thought about how you managed to pull this off. Or at least that’s what you thought until the door swung closed and there stood Jack’s dad. He was 6’2 and raven haired, a glare on his face, his arms across his chest. He was in suit pants and a dress shirt, his shirt rolled up at the sleeves.

“And where have you been?” Hotchner asked, his voice as steely as his glare. Jack just stared, wide eyed and mouth agape. He looked at you, “and you?”

Your face lit up with panic and surprise as you tried to come up with something to get you out of this mess. “Mr. Hotchner… hey. This is probably a bad time. I can see I’m not really needed here, so I’ll just be going,” you say, trying slip past him and out the door.

He stepped in front of it and took a step towards you. “You won’t be going anywhere. Not until I talk to the both of you,” he said sternly, his words spoken with finality. They weren’t to be argued with. You closed your mouth, nodding.

“We are fucked,” you muttered under your breath, walking to Jack’s desk and taking a seat in his desk chair, waiting for his father to verbally murder you both.

“It’s 1 in the morning. I got back at midnight. Jessica told me she went to check up on you and tell you and you were gone. I can only assume you are a friend he snuck out with. But right now, I’m exhausted. You can sleep here, and we will sort this out in the morning. Neither of you are to leave this house, am I clear?” Hotchner instructed, authoritative to the very last word.

You just rolled your eyes, scoffing. “And what are you gonna do if I do?” you challenge, unimpressed.

“I’ll come to your house and speak to you there. And possibly arrest you for underage drinking,” he warned, but his warning didn’t carry any judgement. But you absolutely believed him.

“Fine,” you acquiesced. Jack just nodded, too panicked to speak.

“Good. I’ll see the both of you in the morning,” Hotchner muttered, opening the door, and exiting, shutting it behind him.

“We are royally fucked, Jack,” you stated bluntly, sighing.

“Yeah, we are,” Jack agreed, “let’s just sleep and try and figure all this out in the morning.”

“You go to sleep. I’m gonna try and figure out what to do because I’m the one that dragged you into this mess,” you said, scrubbing at your face as stress began to eat at you, “I’m really sorry, man. I shouldn’t have begged you to go.”

Jack scowled. “I wanted to go, though. And I had a good time. Neither of us knew my dad would get home and catch us. Let’s just try and figure out how to sort this out so we don’t get killed,” Jack suggested, and you agreed.

Somehow you were going to try and get him out of this. You just had no idea how yet.

* * *

“Dude, wake up,” Jack ordered in a harsh whisper, shaking you awake. You groaned, trying to slap his hands away so you could keep sleeping. You were comfortable on the carpeted floor. It wasn’t the greatest, but it was by far not the worst. “My dad is making breakfast, so we only have a few minutes to figure out how to fix this,” Jack said, urgency very clear in his voice. That got you up.

“Fuck. Alright. Plan. What the fuck are going to do, because I can’t think of anything that’s going to get us out of this,” you said, shrugging.

“No well thought up lie?”

You looked at him in disbelief. “Lie to an FBI agent that studies human behavior? No! He interrogates killers for a living, man. What am I gonna do? Google how to lie perfectly and hope I get it right on the first try!?” you whisper-yelled, sitting up.

“Well it’s worth a shot—”

“If you two are done arguing about how to handle talking to me about what you both did last night, there’s breakfast downstairs,” Hotchner interjected, stone faced. You both just nodded, looking at each other with ‘we’re doomed’ written all over you. You both followed him downstairs silently, following him into the kitchen and taking seats at the breakfast bar. It was a nice spread. Waffles, eggs, bacon, orange juice. Pretty normal.

You stood off to the side awkwardly, waiting for the other two to start making plates and sit down before you did. Being here suddenly felt extremely awkward, but that was mostly because you were unsure of what was going to happen. You took a plate once Jack started working on his, putting waffles and bacon on your plate and accepting a cup of orange juice. You took a seat on the end, Jack slipping into the seat next to you. You both ate in silence while his father just leaned against the opposite counter and watched, arms across his chest. You didn’t eat much, too stressed out with what was going to happen then anything. You probably weren’t going to get in serious trouble. Jack was. That’s what stressed you out so much.

Once the both of you were done, things got more interesting. Hotchner sighed, standing up straighter. “Jack, what you did last night was extremely irresponsible. We had no idea where you were or who you were with. Something could have happened to you, and we would have no idea,” Hotchner lectured, keeping his calm but remaining incredibly rigid. Jack just nodded. “We will discuss your punishment for this stunt later. Clean up these plates for right now. I would like to speak to you privately,” Hotchner said, pointing to you and then crooking a finger in silent order for you to follow. You shot Jack a panicked look and he just shrugged.

You got up, following Hotchner back through the house to what looked to be his home office. There was a large mahogany desk by the window and a seating area positioned on the other side of the room. He motioned towards the seating area, “sit.” You plopped down into one of the chairs, keeping your eyes on him as he sat down.

“I should be calling your parents right now and telling them what you and my son did,” he began.

You chuckled humorlessly, rolling your eyes. “Go ahead. See if I care,” you taunted, any venom within that statement gone. You weren’t even in the mood to get riled up about this. You were just resigned, waiting for him to be done so you could go back home to an empty house. “You don’t even know my name,” you muttered, unphased by the threat.

“Your name is y/n y/l/n and my son is your best friend. He talks about you a lot. And I said should. From what I understand, your parents aren’t around much, nor do they wish to be,” Hotchner explained calmly.

Your eyes widened in surprise, but you nodded, “they’re too busy working to care about me. They won’t answer my phone calls, let alone answer someone else’s.”

He leaned back in his chair, his arms resting on the arm rests. “And I assume you are the one that convinced Jack to sneak out of the house,” he probed.

“Yes sir. Don’t blame Jack for all this. I’m the one that got us into this mess. I begged him to go. I shouldn’t have dragged him out,” you explained, hoping to get Jack out of some of it.

“I’ll talk to Jack about all this later. Right now, I want to focus on you.”

You scowled, “why? Look, if you’re going to yell at me and tell me how stupid that was, go ahead. The quicker you tell me how much I fucked up, the quicker I can go back home and move on with my life.”

“No need to be defensive, y/n. I’m not mad. Concerned, yes. But not mad,” Hotchner said. You shot him a look of confusion, lost as to what he was saying. “From what Jack has told me, your parents aren’t even the slightest bit concerned when you do things like this. They don’t care where you are, who you’re with, or why you act out on occasion. I can’t fault you for reacting to the environment you were raised in. The environment you raised _yourself_ in.”

You just nodded, looking down at your hands.

“No matter what you do you can’t seem to win. Getting arrested does nothing. Receiving the highest achievements does nothing. They’re neglectful and they are the ones who have done more wrong than you. Now, sneaking out and underage drinking isn’t something that should go unnoticed, but I understand why you do it. You don’t care because they don’t. But there are people who care, y/n, and that’s important,” Hotchner explained.

You scoffed, “people who care? I must be blind because I don’t see any of those people.”

“You’re looking at one,” Hotchner said, “I wouldn’t be talking to you right now if I didn’t care. I understand what this is like. I had a similar experience growing up. My father was busy working and when he wasn’t working, he was yelling at my mother and I. My mother was too distraught to care about what I got into. Eventually I went to boarding school and focused on myself and who I wanted to be in the future.”

You nodded, giving him one of those fake smiles, “that’s really great. Here’s the thing, I am just the disappointment no one wanted, and I have accepted that this world really isn’t for me. So, while that truly was inspiring, I’m not going anywhere in life as my aspirations will never live up to anyone’s expectations.”

“Is that what you think?”

“What do you mean?” you asked back, furrowing your brow.

“You think that because of what your parents think and how they act towards you that you aren’t going to get anywhere in your life,” he elaborated.

“Well it seems to me like I’m not considering I can’t even get them to blink in my direction.”

“Y/n, I think you should be focusing on what you want out of life and not what your parents want out of your life. From what I’ve heard, you are exceptionally bright. Success is what you think it is, not what someone else thinks it should be. What do you think success is?”

You shrugged, “probably going to college and becoming some lawyer like my father and hating my life.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “That isn’t success. That’s someone else’s success. In your life, what do you think it should be?” he repeated.

You thought about it for a moment, trying to figure out what you even wanted out of life. “I don’t really know. I’ve always just done things in hopes of getting my parents attention and approval,” you answered honestly.

“That’s my point, y/n. You’re a teenager. You aren’t supposed to know who you are yet, but now is the time to start getting ideas. Don’t do things out of hopes of getting the approval of people who have shown you they don’t care. Do things that make you happy. Well, so long as they aren’t illegal,” Hotchner said, his lips quirking up at the edges.

“Ok,” you replied solemnly, still thinking about what he had said.

“You are always welcome to stay here if you need to, y/n. I can’t imagine it’s enjoyable staying in an empty house most of the time,” Hotchner offered.

“Um, alright. Thanks. Why are you being so, um, nice to me?” you asked, confused as to why he was offering this to you in the first place.

“Because you have potential. You just need help figuring things out. You can’t be expected to know everything as a teenager and continually raise yourself.”

“Oh. Well… thanks,” you said quietly.

“It’s not a problem, y/n. Now, don’t sneak out and drink again or else the conversation we will be having will be less pleasant the second time around,” Hotchner warned, growing serious again.

You nodded, “yes sir.”

“Good. Do you need to get home or need a ride or anything?” he asked, standing.

“No. My parents have been out working all week. They hardly notice when I’m gone anyways,” you murmured, a twinge of sadness in your voice. Sometimes you wished they would notice.

“Alright. You can stay here if you want. I’m serious about that. Our door is always open to you. You can sleep in the guest room.”

“No thanks, Mr. Hotchner. I’ve got stuff to do, so I’ll just go home. Thanks for the offer though,” you replied, shaking your head.

“Ok. Well, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go lecture my son,” Hotchner said, cracking a small smile. You followed him out, letting him unlock the front door so you could leave. You stuck your earbuds in your ears as you walked away, thinking about the entire night.

Maybe getting caught wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this short little story. Thanks for reading. Ok, bye <3


End file.
